Central belt automatic units of the above-mentioned type, in which a virtual window is allocated or set up at the conveying or central belt, are known in a commissioning system according to the state of the art. The products, which are arranged along the central belt in commissioning bays, are ejected into this window by various types of ejectors. The products thrown into the window are transferred at a filling point onto an order container. The length of a central belt determines the number of products, which are preferably arranged on both sides of the central belt in vertical shafts of the commissioning bay. This is true regardless of the type of the ejector. Central belt automatic units with central belts of up to approx. 100 m are currently being built. The building dimensions or the technical limits often fail to permit extension of the central belt.
However, if more products are to be commissioned automatically than have place on a central belt, another central belt automatic unit must be built, which extends in parallel to and at a spaced location from the first central belt automatic unit, preferably at the same level. The order containers then pass by the filling points of the two automatic units. The connection between the automatic units is embodied by setting up any desired conveying technique, preferably by a driven cross belt.
The drawback of this variant is that because of the two filling points, a complicated, energy-consuming cross conveying technique and at least two control systems are needed. If the central belts of the two central belt automatic units are not at the same level, the necessary ascending belts of the cross conveying technique require a lot of space. The commissioning paths are long. The commissioning time is correspondingly long as well.